Picture: Cities for Children
As Founder of Cities for Children (CfC), Madeeha Ansari has demonstrated a sustained commitment to protecting children’s rights and creating safe, nurturing environments where every child can learn, play and thrive. Through her leadership, she has embedded child safeguarding into the organisation’s programmes and systems, with a particular focus on vulnerable and marginalised children, including those at risk of exclusion from education.
Madeeha was nominated by a colleague in recognition of her ability to combine genuine compassion for children with practical safeguarding measures, ensuring that protecting children is a shared responsibility across the organisation and beyond.
Education and positive relationships as foundations for safeguarding
Through Cities for Children’s Seekho Sikhao Saathi (Partners in Learning) programme, she champions child-centred education that uses playful, activity-based learning to develop foundational skills, confidence and socio-emotional wellbeing. The programme has helped create supportive environments where children can learn alongside one another, express their ideas and develop positive relationships.
Children’s feedback reflects the impact of this approach: they describe enjoying the learning process, feeling more motivated to attend school and becoming more comfortable sharing their thoughts and aspirations.
Madeeha also addresses violence against children through CfC’s Maar Nahi Pyaar (Love, Not Violence) programme. Combining advocacy and teacher training, the initiative challenges corporal punishment and promotes positive, non-violent approaches to discipline.
Over the past few years, the programme has trained teachers in formal and non-formal schools, helping raise awareness of children’s right to learn without fear. By working with educators, Madeeha contributes to changing everyday practices and building classroom environments in which children can learn in a supportive environment, free from fear and violence
Promoting involvement in child safeguarding
Beyond her work through CfC’s programmes, Madeeha has helped establish a structured child safeguarding framework that makes protection an integral part of the organisation’s operations.
At its centre is CfC’s Child Safeguarding and Protection Policy, which establishes clear standards for preventing harm, reporting concerns and responding appropriately when safeguarding issues arise.
She has helped define responsibilities for staff, volunteers and others working on behalf of CfC, supported by mandatory safeguarding orientation, training and signed commitments to the policy and code of conduct.
Additionally, it establishes clear reporting channels through a designated Child Safeguarding Officer and provides an alternative route for reporting concerns involving the Safeguarding Officer or Director to a nominated Trustee.
The policy is supported by practical tools that help translate safeguarding principles into everyday practice such as a form to identify potential hazards and determine measures to reduce risks and a guide to support the respectful use of children’s photographs and stories.
For Madeeha, establishing these systems is essential to ensuring that safeguarding does not depend solely on individual judgement. Clear procedures, defined responsibilities and accountability mechanisms enable the whole organisation to contribute to children’s protection.
As her nominator expressed: ‘She understands that safeguarding cannot rest on one person alone’.
An advocacy commitment beyond the organisation
Madeeha’s commitment extends beyond Cities for Children. She recognises that protecting children from violence and exclusion requires collaboration between organisations, public institutions, policymakers and civil society.
She has supported advocacy to address corporal punishment, engaging with relevant ministries and parliamentary leadership to raise awareness of the need for stronger protection.
She also works with civil society organisations and child rights institutions to bring greater attention to the challenges faced by children who are frequently overlooked in policy discussions.
By connecting the experiences of children and practitioners with broader policy discussions, Madeeha helps strengthen the collective response to the challenges these children face. She is dedicated to advance a wider movement for children’s rights, helping build a collective commitment to safer environments for all children.
A shared responsibility for every child
What distinguishes Madeeha’s work, according to her colleague, is the way she brings together personal commitment, collaborative leadership and practical safeguarding systems:
‘I believe other organisations can learn from the way Madeeha brings together genuine compassion and practical systems. Safeguarding needs clear policies and procedures, but it also needs leadership that makes protecting children a shared responsibility and ensures that even the smallest concern is taken seriously. Madeeha leads with an exceptional degree of kindness and empathy, and she has helped build a culture at CfC where children’s safety is not simply a requirement to meet, but a responsibility that people are encouraged to care about and act on.’
We congratulate Madeeha Ansari on receiving a Special Mention in the 2026 Child Safeguarding Champion of the Year award.